Premier League clubs are usually associated with spending heavily in the transfer market, but this summer several have been making as much noise through their sales. Aston Villa, Manchester City and Newcastle United have already moved into the all-time top six for transfer income generated in a single window, with Monaco's 360m euros haul from 2018-19 now within reach. Monaco's record was built around several major departures, most notably Kylian Mbappe's 180m euros move to Paris St-Germain, while Thomas Lemar joined Atletico Madrid for 72m euros and Fabinho moved to Liverpool for 45m euros.
On 26 August, according to Transfermarkt, which lists transfer fees in euros, Villa have brought in 293.1m euros (£251m) from departures this summer, City 278.6m euros and Newcastle 275.5m euros. Only Monaco, Chelsea's 321m euros in 2025-26 and Atletico Madrid's 314m euros in 2019-20 currently sit above them. And with several days of the window still remaining, the record could yet fall.
Villa are currently closest to Monaco with Morgan Rogers' £117m (138m euros) move to Chelsea accounting for a significant chunk of their total. Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne were also among those to leave. Their summer trading has also left them with the strongest positive transfer balance in the Premier League.
Villa have spent 160.5m euros, which leaves them 132.6m euros in profit on transfer dealings. That activity comes against a backdrop of financial pressure. In June, Villa were fined 22.5m euros by Uefa for a significant breach of its squad-cost rule for 2025, with 15m euros of that amount suspended on the condition that the club continued to reduce its squad-cost ratio during 2026.
The impact of losing several senior players was evident on the opening weekend, when Unai Emery's side suffered a 4-0 defeat by Brighton. Speaking afterwards, Gary Neville said Villa looked as though they had had their "heart ripped out", pointing to the experience lost through the departures of Rogers, Tielemans and Konsa. Villa could yet move even closer to the record.
Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal have made several attempts to sign Ollie Watkins, with Villa reportedly rejecting an offer worth around 52m euros. Emery has already acknowledged that the England striker could leave, although the two clubs remain apart on valuation. Manchester City's position has shifted following Wednesday's signing of Ayyoub Bouaddi.
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